I hate to pull up to the pump whether it is my car, truck, bus, or airplane. I have no intentions to quit any of them. I remember when I was paying .59 cents and making $2 bucks an hour. Now I wonít comment on my current wages but is considerable more than it was then. The only differance is I have more toys to put fuel in. I took a survey a while back about Avgas. One of the questions was at what point would I quit flying. I answered $5 dollars. Well the price has been over 5 bucks for some time and Iím still flying.

John

« Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 11:22:48 AM by Jriddle »

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If It Can't Be Grown Then It Has To Be MinedJohn RiddleWells NV1984 MC9

Here's my conundrum and I bet it's alot of other folks as well. Drove 500 miles each way to the black hills and back and hit a headwind on the way out. Spent $800 on fuel to drive 1000 miles. It was completely unsafe as we were traveling 15-20 mph up hills where those around us were driving between 60 and 70 mph so I need more power and better gas mileage right? Unfortunately, the only motors that will fit in our 9's without extending the back end out are either another inefficient two stroke (8V92) which will give us more power and will probably hurt our gas mileage so that won't work or a series 50 which doesn't have the power we need to be a game changer in the hills and may gain us a whopping 2 mpg. Then there's the problem with both scenarios in which there is the added cost of the new motor and the retrofit which would be tanks and tanks and tanks of fuel.

Moral of the story??? Our antiquated hobby/passion for those among us where it matters in our pocketbook greatly that a $500 tank of fuel will one day get us less than 500 miles IS eventually going to go the way of the dinosaurs that fuel them. Extinction is coming. It's not a matter of if but when.

We are losing money everyday whether or not we're even driving them (Been to ebay lately and seen the prices these things are being offered for and passed on?) meanwhile, our buses are getting increasingly more expensive and difficult to maintain (how many competent 2 stroke mechanics do you know?) and we are losing the battle with the gas pump.

The end came for the buffalo, the home phone, a small and unobtrusive government and it is on our doorstep whether we like it or not. The only folks it doesn't apply to are the folks that are wealthy enough to overcome the loss of ownership.

We are readying our bus for sale as I type. It just doesn't make sense anymore and although I have loved the knowledge and family I have found here on this blog. I don't buy the delusional arguments anymore that have sufficed to keep me drinking the kool aid for the past few years. With campgrounds asking and getting $60 a night at most vacation destinations and the added expense of food, maintenance and fuel it simply doesn't make more sense than a hotel room and an airfare anymore. We reached a tipping point when ALL those that drill for, refine, trade the commodity of oil checked our resolve to their greed and we, as a nation, blinked. Checkmate.

Rick

Someone on this board once told me that I should buy a old class c instead of a bus, since I only wanted to spend 10 to 15,000 on a bus, and now Rick is telling me checkmate before I even make my first move Does that koolaid come with cyanide

Math is not my strong suit but gas was around $1.40 a gallon when I bought my bus. It's increased threefold since then. Oil traded above 108 a barrel today which means $4 a gallon for the rest of the summer which is the only time us northerners can use our buses. The argument it's still cheaper than the alternatives just doesn't add up. Food has doubled, most campgrounds that are kid friendly are $45 and up a night. It costs me $350 a year to license a bus I'm using 2-3 times a year. When does the perception that we are saving money by bringing our own hotel/restaurant cease to make sense? Tires were $250 a tire when I bought my bus just 7 years ago now they are $500 and rising and God forbid someone loses an engine on a trip far from home. That could be $20,000. I can't afford to be my own rolling hotel/restaurant anymore.

I bought my bus at the low swing of 7 years ago and I am gonna take a major bath because alot of folks figured out the same numbers as me and are currently trying to unload their buses for a fraction of what they cost. None of this applies if you're living with your family in your bus, writing off business travel (Get caught by the feds for that and you'll be sorry, Tax evasion is a serious deal to Uncle Sam he needs as much of our hard earned money as he can get to fund his cronies, and his political platform. Lol There are cases where it makes sense the number one being that you have a significant amount of skill to fix most stuff yourself and if you a significant amount of disposable income. Hell, who cares then right?

I will miss this place, it has been great learning and watching and getting to know a few folks here but the fat lady is singing in my house and it's not my mother in law.

Math is not my strong suit but gas was around $1.40 a gallon when I bought my bus. It's increased threefold since then. Oil traded above 108 a barrel today which means $4 a gallon for the rest of the summer which is the only time us northerners can use our buses. The argument it's still cheaper than the alternatives just doesn't add up. Food has doubled, most campgrounds that are kid friendly are $45 and up a night. It costs me $350 a year to license a bus I'm using 2-3 times a year. When does the perception that we are saving money by bringing our own hotel/restaurant cease to make sense? Tires were $250 a tire when I bought my bus just 7 years ago now they are $500 and rising and God forbid someone loses an engine on a trip far from home. That could be $20,000. I can't afford to be my own rolling hotel/restaurant anymore.

I bought my bus at the low swing of 7 years ago and I am gonna take a major bath because alot of folks figured out the same numbers as me and are currently trying to unload their buses for a fraction of what they cost. None of this applies if you're living with your family in your bus, writing off business travel (Get caught by the feds for that and you'll be sorry, Tax evasion is a serious deal to Uncle Sam he needs as much of our hard earned money as he can get to fund his cronies, and his political platform. Lol There are cases where it makes sense the number one being that you have a significant amount of skill to fix most stuff yourself and if you a significant amount of disposable income. Hell, who cares then right?

I will miss this place, it has been great learning and watching and getting to know a few folks here but the fat lady is singing in my house and it's not my mother in law.

Just my two cents. It's about all I have left after the black hills

Rick

LOL

Yup it doesnít add up. Rick you will be missed. I'm not sure what make sense anymore. Hell I decided to work out of country to make a few bucks. Twenty Eight days of sobriety for me. When I get home I'm going to load up bus and enjoy a few cerveza or good glass of homemade wine, maybe some Scotch on the rocks or even a crown on the rocks and forget about the cost of living or in this case the expense of running my bus. The camp fire might make it all worthwhile. Each person needs to come to peace on their own. I am not judging anyone here just putting in my two cents in how I justify it. Oh forgot the wife like to go also. That might be the reason enough?

John

« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 07:05:24 PM by Jriddle »

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If It Can't Be Grown Then It Has To Be MinedJohn RiddleWells NV1984 MC9

Rick,when it's time it's time buddy I could not justify my bus with my age if I would have quit the first time I gave it any thought I would have a lot more money lol.

The engine deal makes one sick my friend Doyle is here we rebuilt a 8v71 with 50,000 miles on it since a out of frame terrible workmanship on the engine and it didn't last but it did make the 90day/ 1 year warranty lol.

This is his and Coffee home so far I would say he has spent 8 grand + just on parts plus what I gave him it is hard to justify a bus using it a couple of weeks a year

I am a little different as you know I don't want to own a bus just to be able to say I have a bus conversion I want to use it, 3 months out was the norm for us but the price of travel today and upkeep it couldn't happen now

Nothing wrong with saying I spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express about the same cost as a battery huh

Gotta say I'm somewhat with Rick on this one. To each their own but we spend on average $13,000 per year on fuel between the bus and our toad. That's insane. Our choice, of course, but travel is just expensive. Now today, I borrowed a friends' 2013 VW Golf Diesel with a 6 speed manual, drove it like my grandma would have and squeaked out nearly 62 mpg. Now that's more like it:

Last year I met a man with a Prevost, he was from Mississippi. Over the course of time, we started talking the pro's and con's of bus ownership. After a little while, he looked at me and smiled and then said: "Son, you can shade it any way you want, but there is no valid reason on earth for owning one of these things."

At the end of the day, I just have to agree with the guy.

If you think selling a bus is hard in this day and age, take a gander at this:

That YouTube clip made me chuckle. The first shot it showed was purportedly of Swindon in England, but it showed somewhere next to a large harbor. Swindon is in Wiltshire. Wiltshire is a land-locked county without any coastline or ports. It makes me doubt the rest of it if it cannot even get the first part right.

The retail price of fuel is just one aspect of a much larger looming problem (to put it mildly) - the collapse of the whole house-of-cards Ponzi scheme that most nations' economies now are. When, not if, $#!% hits fans, it won't be a bad idea to have a solid Plan B, including having an alternate place to live and a means to relocate anywhere at short notice. Even with the ever-increasing price of fuel, maybe that's the price we pay for being better prepared than 99% of the population.

Good point, I don't know if it true or not, but there surely are a lot of them shown. One thing I always wondered about was "Where do all the leftovers go at the end of the year?" the one's that did not sell.

That YouTube clip made me chuckle. The first shot it showed was purportedly of Swindon in England, but it showed somewhere next to a large harbor. Swindon is in Wiltshire. Wiltshire is a land-locked county without any coastline or ports. It makes me doubt the rest of it if it cannot even get the first part right.

The retail price of fuel is just one aspect of a much larger looming problem (to put it mildly) - the collapse of the whole house-of-cards Ponzi scheme that most nations' economies now are. When, not if, $#!% hits fans, it won't be a bad idea to have a solid Plan B, including having an alternate place to live and a means to relocate anywhere at short notice. Even with the ever-increasing price of fuel, maybe that's the price we pay for being better prepared than 99% of the population.

Whoh, whoh, hold the phone! Those photos were taken in 2008/2009 (right at the bottom of the "Bush Depression" ). First, there were cars stacked up everywhere and stored. But they were moved off - all it took was to sell each of them one at the time. Second, there are about 20 Million new cars manufactured around the world; the port processing lots like that are full of cars stacked up to be moved (going out) or having just come off a ship. Everything about those photos is true, the conclusion wasn't then and it's ancient history now. Toyota, Nissan, Ford (esp. Ford - Ford has made a profit every year for the past 10 years), GM (with our money) have been selling stuff off as quick as they can make it for months; Honda would be in that list except for a dependence on suppliers in the Tsunami area in Japan.

And John is right, one of the biggest Honda factories in the world is in Swindon, England. and they may be Hondas in that photo, but it *ain't* Wiltshire.

My wife used to work for a large wholesaler in NY and supposedly they sell what they can and near end of year discount them. After years end as the new ones come in they sell the rest to whole-seller's who in turn sell to used car dealers. Anything left after 3 years gets either sold as used to foreign countries or crushed and turned into bridges etc. Used car buyer's get them in lot numbers at auctions all over the place.

I just got back last night from a 3,800 mile trip for a rocket launch. Total fuel cost should be around $2,100 after I top the tank off again. We averaged probably $3.80 a gallon for diesel. We only had four people this trip so it came to about $525 each.

That $525 each is still less than what it would cost for one person to drive out in a 30 MPG car. Fuel cost would be about the same, but the person would have four nights in a hotel plus they would need to camp in a tent at the event, or pay $70 a night for the crappy motel in town.

This thread is bumming me out. When I got into this Diesel was way cheaper...so it goes. A bunch of you have been pointing out what I don't want to think about, the whole "cheaper than hotels and restaurants" thing is less true than before. My road trip this year was in a sprinter van set up to convert from seating for 8 to sleeping for 6. We stayed with friends quite a bit, also had a rented place for a week. One month on the road....fuel was not a big expense but the Sprinter gets about 20-24 mpg highway if you take it easy. I would have liked to take the bus but I need a new set of tires before I will load my family in there for a long distance trip....maybe next year...except SWMBO wants to do a cross Canada trip....extra high fuel prices...oh joy. All of which it to say, I still like the idea of traveling in my bus and hope to get down to Mexico one of these winters. Flying all the kids is expensive so the bus still kind of makes sense....if I wait long enough maybe I can ask them to split the fuel like Belfert does with his friends.